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THE 
GERMAN CHARACTER 

IllllllllllliilllllllllllllllllllllllUllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllli 



ITS INFLUENCE ON THE FORMATION OF THE 
AMERICAN NATIONAL CHARACTER 




AUGUST WILLIAM REINHARD 



; To the Faculty of the Dubuque German College § 

« «, 

I and Seminary, this lecture is, by permission, most re- f 

5 . i 

spectfully dedicated. i 



COI'YWRIGHTED APRIL 1916 BY 

AUGUST W. REINHARD 



f^ 0^^^ 



Dubuque Presbyterian Press 
Print 

DUBUQUE, IOWA. 



MAY 17 1915 e>CiA434206 
1, . I 



(U 



PREFATORY NOTE 

I his lecture was delivered for the first time in 1904 before 
i/ the Presbyterian Ministers Association, of Portland, Ore- 
gon. It was then unanimously resolved that it he |)rinted. 
Although thoroughly revised in its present form, it has re- 
mained true to its original irenical and Christian spirit. There 
is no war-talk in it. Its intention is to bring about a better 
understanding of the Germans, to remove misconceptions and 
prejudices. It is almost needless to say that within the scope 
of a lecture it was not possible to enter into every trait of the 
German character. The lecture is the fruit of painstaking- 
study of the German language, literature and people, both in 
this country and during a tour in Germany. I speak from 
deep conviction and Avith the earnest desire to help form cor- 
rect ideas concerning the (Germans and German-Americans, 
and shall feel well rewarded if I succeed in some measure in 
the effort. A. A\'. Iv. 

( )maha, Nebraska. 



M 



Its Influence on the Formation of the American National 

Character. 



During" the preparation of this lecture, I had occasion to 
invite a woman to come and hear it. She asked me, On what 
subject will you speak? I answered, On the German char- 
acter. "()," said she, "I did not know the Germans had a char- 
acter." 

The incident reminds of an anecdote that went tlirough 
the press years ago. It tells of a man sitting in a railway 
car in conversation with a woman, who was overheard to re- 
mark, "I cannot bear the Germans, they are only good to sing 
and drink beer : 

A young- German happened to sit near by, and turning a- 
bout he said, "Sir, kindly pardon me for interrupting you, but 
you said the Germans are only good to sing and drink beer. 
Can you tell me who is the most active Christian in England^ 
and who is the greatest scholar in Oxford? and who is the 
most distinguished engineer in the "United States?" 

The man gave an evasive reply. 

"I will tell you," said the German. The foremost Chris- 
tian man in England, is George Mueller, of Bristol; he is the 
foster-father of about one thousand orphans; he is a German. 
The most distinguished scholar in ( )xford is Max Mueller, 
his "Chips from a German Workshop" are prized like so many 
jewels; he is a Cierman. And the greatest engineer in the 
United States, is Roebling. He built the Suspension Bridge 
across the Niagara river, and also the Brooklyn Bridge; he 
is a German. So you see the (iermans can do more than sing 
and drink beer." 

The German character as such is good, and of the good 
qualities of the German character I wish to speak to you. 
The faults of any nation are known the world over; less so its 



— 6 — 

virtues. Nor is it any kinder to criticize a whole nation than 
an individual, remembering that we Americans, too, have na- 
tional faults. But it is a pleasant, because a Christian duty, 
to discover the g(x:)d qualities of our neighbors, all the more 
when we reap benefits from their good character. 

With due respect for national pride, and with a tolerable 
allowance for national prejudices, it is safe to say the days of 
''knownothingism" are past. The present agitation against 
the Germans is not against the Germans or German-Ameri- 
cans in the United States, but against the German government. 
Moreover, the anti-German feeling in its incipiency was due 
to the bias of the press and the blood-ties of those who sym- 
pathize with the allied nations. The citizens of the United 
States, complex as they are in respect to nationalities, have 
learned to have faith in one another, and this confidence is 
growing. As members of our great commonwealth, we are 
working out the genius of (^ur constitution, which recognizes 
all who accept our free institutions, keep our laws, and lead 
responsible lives. No man in the United States, is valued on 
account of his nationality, but for his good character and for 
his acceptance of American principles. 

At the first glance, it might seem as if the people of this 
country were a conglomeration of all nations, devoid of a 
distinct national character. The fact is, there is not another 
nation existing whose character can be more clearly defined 
than ours. We strive for the highest individual freedom, con- 
sistent with the rights of others; a freedom based on right- 
eousness, love, and truth. But since this country from the 
beginning, was comprised of various nationalities, it is obvious 
that our national character became the product of these vari- 
ous forces. The more the prejudices of the English. Irish. 
Scotch, (iermans. Dutch, French, Spaniards, and others resi- 
dent in the United States, have been o\ercome, the more their 
character has ])een amalgamated into one strong American 
character. "The mixture of allied races among us," says Her- 
ber Specer, "will produce a more powerful type of man than 
has existed hitherto.'' 



Or to use the dramatic speech of Israel Zangwill- — 
"There she lies, the great Melting-Pot-listen ! Can't you 
hear the roaring and the bubbling? There gapes her mouth- — 
the harbor where a thousand mammoth feeders come from 
the ends of the world to pour in their human freight. Ah. 
what a stirring and a seething! Celt and Latin, Slav and 
Teuton, Greek and Syrian, -black and yellow-Jew and Gentile- 
yes, East and West, and North and South, the palm and the 
pine, the pole and the equator, the crescent and the cross-how 
the great Alchemist melts and fuses them with his purging 
flame! Here shall they all unite to build the Republic of 
Man and the Kingdom of God." 

Next to the English speaking element, the Germans have 
ever been the strongest constituent of this nation. Germans 
and their descendents who still speak or understand German, 
number about thirty millions. Thus they have been, and still 
are, contributing a large percentage to the upbuilding of our 
land and character. Just what that quota is, lies beyond the 
scope of this address. All this effort can attempt, is to point 
out the leading traits of the German character, to call atten- 
ion to some of the notable achievements of the Germans in 
Germany and this land, and from these facts infer as to what 
influence has gone forth from the Germans in the formation 
of our national character. 

The German's foremost trait of character, is Innerlichkeit. 
The English word inwardness, as used by Shakespeare in the 
sentence, "You know my inwardness and love," and by Wyc- 
liffe, "Ye are not anguished in us, but ye are anguished in 
your inwardness," exactly fits the idea. By it we are to under- 
. stand the soul-life of the German, the man within himself, a 
life lived not for the sake of appearances, but first and last for 
its own sake. It is that simple life which Charles Wagner 
has so beautifully described in the chapter on "Notoriety" — 
"The forms which move for good, remain invisible, ever, 
in our individual lifes : what is best in us, is incommunible, 
buried in the depths of us. And the more vital are these sens- 
ibilities and intuitions, confounding themselves with the very 
essence of our being, the less ostentations they are: they 



think themselves profaned by exposure to the Hght of day. 
There is a secret and inexpressible joy in the possessing at 
the heart of one's being, an interior world, known only to 
God, whence, nevertheless, come impulses, enthusiasms, the 
daily renewal of courage, and the most powerful motives for 
activity among out fellow-men. AVhen this intimate life loses 
its. intimacy, when man neglects it for what is superfical, he 
forfeits in worth all that is given in appearance." 

Thus the genial and versatile Parisian, in showing the 
world how man ought consciously and conscientiously to live 
his inmost life, unwittingly unfolds the character of his neigh- 
bor, the German. For Innerlichkeit is the essence of his be- 
ing, the mainspring of his actions, the equality by which every 
thing else must be measured. The very fact that the word In- 
nerlichkeit, with its various derivatives, is used so extensively 
in the German language, while the word inwardness is used 
so little by us as to be almost obsolete, shows .strikingly the 
difference between the two characters. 

The second fundamental trait in the German character is 
thoroughness. By virtue of his Innerlichkeit the German is a 
profound thinker, a thorough student, a man of research, on 
account of which his institutions of learning have become 
foremost in the world. This also explains why most German 
philosophers are idealists. The world of mind is all the world 
to him. He loves to dwell on underlying, abstract thought. 
He is highly prolific of theories. His mind is constantly in- 
quiring, AMiat is back of the phenomena? In dealing with 
concrete science, he will investigate the first causes. Thus 
Helmholtz became the great physiologist, Virchow^ the found- 
-er of modern ])atholoy, and Koch the discoxerer of the bacillus 
tubcrculi. 

We Americans, on the other hand, ha\e a distinct pre- 
ference for practical knowdedge. \\'e are an inventive people. 
Our ingenuity is known the world over. We are a nation of 
experts. But we are inclined to be superficial. 

In our educational methods, we ha\'e suffered for centur- 
ies from a lack of thoroughness. American schoolmen Inn-e 
labored under the delusion that a scholar should co\-er as 



— 9 — 

many branches as possible, rather than know less and know 
them well. In my own college days, we read a half or a third 
of a Latin or Greek classic ; no German professor wonld stop 
short of the whole book. Says Charles Skinner, State Snper- 
intendent of the Department of Public Instruction of the State 
of New York— 

"More and more there is a tendency to overcrowd courses 
of study. This tendency is not confined to schools of a partic- 
ular class, but is, perhaps, more marked in the higher grades. 
Our schools are e\'idently trying to cover too much ground 
within a specified time. Our children are hurrying too fast 
from one grade to another, from one sul^ject to another, with- 
out mastering the successive steps by which they expect to 
rise. There is danger of our becoming a nation of poor spel- 
lers, readers, and writers. Arithmetic, geography, and gram- 
mar, are thrown aside too early after insufficient study, and 
pupils are hurried through essential subjects to give more time 
for experiments and "fads". We are not teaching our pupils 
thoroughness. They rush through their terms and often grad- 
uate too young ; more often carelessly educated, if we can 
really say they are educated at all." 

In res})ect to thoroughness in our educational methods, 
great improvement has been made, due, in a large measure .to 
German influence. To say that German schools lead the world 
at present, is to state an undeniable fact, indeed, in such high 
esteem are German uni\ersities held in our country that the 
Johns Hopkins Unixersity has made the German uni\ersity 
its model, and the schools and universities of Germay were 
thronged with American students before the war broke out. 
German unixersities, German conservatories, and German art 
studios, \v,i\e become the Meccas of all nations, notal)]y of 
Americans. 

The United States has come wonderfully to the front in 
the art of painting. l)ut have not all our great artists studied 
in Munich? Are not the German art galleries the admiration 
of all the world? 

There are four great art galleries in Germany; the Royai 
Gallery, of Dresden ; the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, of Berlin ; 



— 10 — - 

the Royal Gallery, of Hesse-Cassel, and the old Pinakothek, 
of Munich: whereas France has only one-the Louvre; Eng- 
land two-the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection, and 
Russia only one-the Erimatage in St. Petersburgh. 

At the International Exhibition at Venice few years ago, 
two entire rooms were assigned to Stuck's exhibits, and one 
to Zorn's, who of all artists in the world were chosen for this 
distinction, and they were Germans. 

Geman literature of the last eighty years presents a hall 
of fame by itself. Goethe, Schiller, Euken Wundt, Eduard von 
Hartmann, Ernst von Mach, Uhland Rueckert, Schlegel, 
Tieck, Buerger, Emmanuel Geibel, Freiligrath, Grillparzer, 
Hebbel, Ludwig, Gustav Frenssen, Ludwig Fuida, F. C. 
Meyer and F. W. Nietzche, are some of the names that shine 
bright in the German literature of this age. 

It is a most noteworthy fact, too, that by the book of a 
French authoress, "De 1' Allemagne." by Madame de Stael, 
German literature, at one stroke, became a force in Europe. 
It was this brilliant mind wdio made the high assertion that of 
all modern literature, the German is the only one that 
breathes the spirit of immortal youth, and that in it are to be 
found the highest ideals of liberty. 

If Schiller's "Wilhelm Tell" is an illustration of German 
literature in this particular respect, then Madame Stael has 
said true. It might be worth wdiile to quote here the conclud- 
ing words of the great drama — ■ 

"Bertha — Peasants ! Conferderates ! Into your league 
Receive me here, that happily am the first 
to find protection in the land of freedom. 
To your brave hands I now entrust my rights. 
A\'ill you protect me as your citizen? 
Peas. — Ay, that we will, with life and fortune both ! 
Bertha — 'Tis well ! And to this youth I give my hand. 

A free Swiss maiden to a free Swiss man ! 
Rudenz — And from this moment all my serfs are free !" 
Noteworthy, also, is the masterful language of C. F. 
Meyer and Friedrich W. Nietzsche. The latter discovered pos- 



— 11 — 

sibilities in the German language of which the classical mas- 
ters knew nothing: his rythmic periods combine the dignity 
of Luther with the dithirambic style of Hoelderlin. It is 
clear and terse and free from those elements known as 
*'deutscli und schwer." "From an artistic point of view, Nietz- 
sche's work, Also sprach Zarathustra, is a wonderful l^eautiful 
book; the fulness of its thought and its grandiose Biblical 
language make it one of the master-works of modern liter- 
ature. No reader can be insensible to the l)eauty of passages 
like those on the Grosze Sehnsucht, or the following lines from 
Von Den Sieben Siegeln — 

"^^'enn ich je dcm Meere hold 1:)in und allem, was Mee- 
res-art ist, und am holdesten noch, wenn es mir zornig wider- 
spricht : 

Wenn I'ene suchende Lust in mir ist, die nach Unentdeck- 
tem die Segel treibt, wenn eine Seefahrerlust in meiner Lust 
ist: 

Wenn je mein Frohlocken rief : "die Kueste schwand — 
nun fiel mir die letzte Kette ab — 

Das Grenzenlose braust um mich, weit hinaus glaenzt mir 
Raum und Zeit, Wohlauf ! Wohlan ! Altes Herz ! 

O wie sollte ich nicht nach der Ewigkeit bruenstig sein 
und nach dem hochzeitlichen Ring der Ringe — dem Ring der 
A\'iederkunft !" * 

This ciuotation, however, has reference only to Nietzsche's 
beautiful language, not to his philosophy. 

Jn the field of applied science, the Germans have greatly 
distinguished themselves. \'irchow in cellular pathology and 
archeological anthropology; Liebig in carlxm compounds; 
Helmholtz in- zoology; Billroth in surgical fame; Professor 
Ehrlich in saharson, and Roentgen in the X-rays. The whole 
world owes a debt of gratitude to these men. 

Then in other things. The two German scientists. Bun- 
son and A\'oehlcr, invented aluminum, and a still lighter metal 
has been invented for the Zeppelins, which however, is kept 
a secret. The Germans also in\ented the railway car box and 
have developed the rail and block system, and are the origin- 
ators of the Pintsch gas light system. The Brooklyn Bridge 

* T. G. Ro1)ertson-Hi.story German Literature. 



— 12 — 

and the New York Subway were built largely by German 
engineers. 

And do you know that Siemens is a greater inventor than 
Edison? It was Siemens who gave the world the modern-dyn- 
amo-electric machine, upon which, more than anything else, 
the success of electric lighting and all the modern applica- 
tions of electricity depends. In other words, he made possible 
the electric light. Electric plating is also his invention. He 
built the first electric sreet-car in 1879, which he exhibited that 
year at the Berlin Exposition. He also is the man who first 
operated a 180-volt third rail line at the same Exposition, 
which Edison used a year later for his Menlo Park locomo- 
tives. The firm of Siemens and Halske are the greatest elec- 
trical engineers in Europe, and the largest deep-sea ca1)le 
manufacturers in the world. Siemens laid six trans-Atlantic 
cables, and discovered the method of locating a break in a 
cable imder the ocean. He also invented the ticker-machine. 
His brother Friedrich Siemens invented the glass furnace. 

And how about the automobile and the airship? It is a 
German, Daimler, whose invention of the modern gas engine 
made possible the in\'ention of the automobile. Daimler was 
the first man who used a gas engine to run a motor cycle. 
That is why the Selden patent was knocked out in the E'nited 
States Supreme Court a few years ago. And were not the 
German automol:)iles, the "Benz" and the "Mercedes," the 
great prize winners? 

Liliencron, a German, made the first successful flight in 
an airoplane, i)aying the price of the experiment with his life. 

Please remember, also, it was the Diesel engine that 
wrought such a great revolution in the jM-opelling of steam- 
Ijoats and airships. He was a German. 

The telephone was the invention of I'hilip Reis, another 
German. The Bell telephone is l)ut an improvement on it. 
The United States Court came pretty near annulling the Bell 
patent. 

Two (ierman professors invented the Jena glass, which 
makes photography and moving pictures possible. The Zeiss 
and Goertz lenses rank as the best in the world. The Baratha 



— 13 — 

paper and chemicals used in photography, are of German 
manufacture. 

The Welsbach^ Tungsten, Nerst, and Pintsch lights, are 
all German inventions, as is also the nitrogen light, used with 
such brilliant effect at the Panama Pacific International Ex- 
position. 

The art of printing was invented by (lUtenberg, and the 
great lineotype by Ottomar Mergenthaler, a German immi- 
grant. 

The Mauser rifle, the Maenlicher gun, the Krupp cannon, 

and the sub-marine boats are all German inventions. * 

These things have entered intt) our daily life, and for the 
.sake of gratitude the names of these men should stand high in 
our estiiuation. 

It cannot be denied, however, that German thoroughness 
sometimes leads to pedantry which may be amusing. It is 
said of the German poet Uhland that he never wrote a letter 
without reviewing it, and whenever he found it necessary to 
scold his cook, he would first write out the reprimand, com- 
mit it to memory, and then deliver it. It must have been a 
great honor for his cook to be scolded in such a refined literary 
and oratorical manner, and it is to be regretted that Uhland 
did not publish some of these culinary philippics .so that the 
literary world after him might have an idea of just how to 
acquit itself of that critical duy, without sacrificing anything 
to literary style and effect. 

In matters of knowledge, the (jerman would see deep ; in 
his heart life he desires to feel the full warmth of his love: 
Init when he exercises his will, he glories in the strength of 
his determination. His will, therefore, is a part of his Inner- 
lichkeit ; tliis is so strong that it marks him at once as an 
individualist. 

( )f the two manifestations of the soul-life, the intellect 
and the will, the will is the constant element, the intellect the 
movable. The will is in itself void of content; not until in- 
fluenced by the intellect or feelings can it make itself known. 
If the will l)e the stronger factor, it will force both intellect 
and feelings into subordination; if, however, the intellect of 

* German Culture, l)y Frantz vr)n Franzius. 



— 14 — 

feelings predominate, the will will l^e less vigorous. 

In the German the will refuses to act until well instructed 
by the intellect or impelled by the feelings, and because both 
must be consulted thoroughly, he is not so quick to act as 
the Frenchman, Englishman, or American. However, after 
the intellect and feelings have been properly taken into ac- 
count, he will press on to his purpose with indefatigable endur- 
ance. His English and American brothers force the intellect 
into subordination of the will ; therefore they are realists. 
They expect quick results, and they get them ; but often at a 
cost for which they did not reckon. The German wants to 
know the reason why, and considers carefully before he press- 
es forward ; but when his mind is made up, no difficulty is 
too great for him to surmount. In this respect the German 
is like George Washington, of whom Thomas Jefferson says : 
"His mind was great and powerfvil it was slow in opera- 
tion, sure in conclusion... Perhaps the strongest feature in 

his character was prudence, never acting until every circum- 
stance was maturely weighed, and when once decided , going- 
through with all his purpose, whatever, obstacle opposed." 
Here Saxon meets Saxon. 

Such intelligent persistency is Injund to develop strong 
indixidualists, of whom the German people abounds. One 
needs only to study the lives of Charlemagne and Luther, 
the greatest personalities of the German history, to see how 
powerful (ierman indi\idualism is and acts. Luther, notwith- 
standing his deep humilty, once said of himself: "I am a man 
well known in heaven, on earth, and in hell." 

We are. therefore, not surprised to find indi\idualism a 
fundamental feature in German literature. To deliniate the 
character of the indi\idual man from the view-point of his 
inner life, rather than from his relatiim to society, has ever 
been the aim of German authors. From the^early "Fragment 
of Hildebrand to His Son Hadul)rand", down through all 
history, biography, novels, poetry, and stories, the hero is re- 
presented as working out his greatness by his own inner self, 
and it is for this reason that Goeth's Faust has become the 
greatest i)ro(luction of German literature ; for Faust represents 



— 15 — 

the inner life of (ioethe, dramatized l)y the poet's genius. 

Such formation of character, l)eing- original, the person- 
ality having shaped into his being all the forces that lie with- 
in him, is self-existent. He is a psychological self-made man, 
as compared with the self-made professional or business man 
in the United States ; he is a man of strong convictions, who 
knows just what he wants. It might be a profitable and very 
interesting thing to study from this view-point the character 
of the present Kaiser. 

This trait of character lies so deeply imbedded in the 
German mind that it is amusing to see to what degree of senti- 
mentality he is reduced by it. It reminds of the German 
whom the poet Coleridge met in Frankfort, who always took 
off his hat with profound respect when he ^•entured to speak 
of himself. 

It is simply ludicrous to see how the German imlixiduai- 
izes himself in his correspondence. If he writes a letter to 
a tailor, or contractor, or architect, he must not fail to state 
on the envelope: Mr. Tailor-master Schmitt, Mr. Contractor 
Braun, Mr. Architect-Schneider; as an American was once 
unkindly remarked, "If Mr. Lange is a garbage collector, don't 
forget, in addressing a letter to his wife to say, Mrs. Garbage 
Collector Lange." 

But strong as his consciousness of himself as an individu- 
alist may be, it is not so strong as that of his x\nglo-Saxon 
brothers, the English and Americans, who write I with a cap- 
ital letter, and you with a small letter, even in direct address ; 
the (ierman inverts the order. 

This trend of the German character, while undouljtedly 
innate with the German tril)es, has ever been fostered by the 
indoor habits of the German, the cold, raw northern climate 
compelling him to spend a large part of the year in the house ; 
and in the early days of Germany, the country was s])arsely 
settled, isolating the individual families. 

Following the long, hard winter, Germany enjoys a pro- 
longed spring; the heavily laden fruit and nut trees, the clean 
fields, the well kept forest, to say nothing of such scenery as 
the Rhine and the Schwarzwald affords, makes the land ap- 



— 16 — 

pear like one great garden. No wonder that it draws out the 
deep joy of the German breast and that Germany is a land of 
song and music. 

This accouts in a large measure for the German's Gemuet- 
lichkeit, a word for which the English language has no equiv- 
alent. ^Vhat are we to understand by it? 

Depth, warmth, sympathetic feelings; a tranquil state of 
the mind; cordiality, congeniality, sociableness; good-nat- 
uredness, companionship ; as to environments-comfort. As 
we speak of a cozy room or chair, so the German finds his 
room, chair, coat, pipe, or even friend, gemuetlich. 

Perhaps the most powerful agency by which the German 
Gemuet is transmitted into our American soul life, is German 
music. It unquestionable takes the lead of all music. What 
musical creations, for example, have become such cherished 
and sacred favorites with us as Haendel's Messiah and 
Haydn's Creation? And why? Not only because their sub- 
jects are of such a lofty character, but also because they give 
such deep expression to the heart. Let us inquire into this. 

AMiat is music? 

It will answer our purpose to class it under two heads : 
that which pleases the ear, and that which speaks to the soul. 

Italian mvisic seeks preeminently to please the ear. It is 
sweet, melodious, even; clear and transpant in its harmony; 
simple in its rythm ; consistent in its development. Its first 
aim is the aesthetic efifect. It imposes no burden on the un- 
derstanding ; developes no dialectic processes; avoids en- 
tanglements-in short. Italian music is of light cliaracter, and 
is, therefore, popular. 

The German, on the other hand, speaks by the symbols 
of music, from the depths of his large soul, and a])peals to all 
there is in man. The word oratorio is quite significant as a 
German musical designation. In his nnisic he does not ask 
if he pleases or pains, whether it is easy or difiicult of inter- 
pretation ; he ex])resses life as it is, especially German life. 

German composers are strong indixidualists. If you 
would understand German music, study the author, his life 
and character. Take, for an example, the wc^dd's greatest 



— 17 — 

musical genius-Beethoven. Why does his music so mightily 
stir the human breast? Because in it he has wedded the 
highest genius to strong characters. In his great composi- 
tions he is marshalling before you heroes and great events in 
history. Now in strains of heart-breaking sorrow ; now in 
melting pathos; now in the clash of arms; now in raptures 
of heavenly joy. In it all, he is telling you the sad story of his 
life. What Beethoven's great affliction was, we all know ; he 
was deaf, in his latter years so deaf that when his celebrated 
Ninth Symphony was rendered in Vienna, he could hear noth- 
ing of the music, nor the tremendous applause. Friends turn- 
ed his chair around so that he could see the waiving of hats 
and handkerchiefs. His works are the fruits of bitter sorrow, 
the results (^f a passionate but consciously painful strife for 
ideal aims. He who had given to the world enjoyment and 
elevation of the heart, should himself drink the bitter cup of 
being deprived of the sense of hearing. But how grand is the 
spectacle of an artist, deprived of all intercourse with what 
to him in this world was dearest, and yet pouring forth the 
lonely aspirations of his soul, all the more sublime as we seem 
to hear in them the innermost spirit of mankind ! In Beethov- 
en we have the extraordinary illustration of how, in the hands 
of God, affliction may further sublimate the efforts of an artist, 
even if, on the other hand, they poignantly intensified his 
sufferings as a man ; indeed, it is thought that the deafness of 
Beethoven drove him into the innermost resources of his soul. 
With this commentary in hand, we are in a position to under- 
stand the wonderful music of Beethoven. 

Bach, Haydn, Haendel, Mozart, Beethoven. Schubert, 
Schubert. Schumann. Brahms. Richard Wagner— have they 
not by their'high art brought heaven nearer to this sin-strick- 
en earth? Have they not given an inexplicable uplift and en- 
joyment to the human heart? God blest the day when these 
German masters were l)orn, and we hold their memory in lov- 
ing remembrance. 

In the realm of aff'ections. the inner life of the (ierman 
makes itself known by tender love. The conjugal love of the 
German is selfrespecting. it is even more, it is holy. The Ro- 



— 18 — 

manic nations see in woman, first of all, sex, and if she be in- 
tellectual the charm is heightened. But the German, by vir- 
tue of his Innerlikkeit, beholds in woman an object of vene- 
ration. He feels that in her slumber powers of the soul that 
lovingly supplement his inner life : a contemplative mind 
a prevision, a thoughtfulness wdiich outweighs and corrects his 
own impulsive nature. Tacitus observes this when he says: 
''Alliquid sanctum et providum," meaning there is something 
sacred and prophetic about German women. This trait of the 
German woman's character is finely delineated in Goethe's 
Iphigenie Auf Tauris. 

What German music is to the ear, German home-life is to 
the heart. It is in the home of the German where his Gemuet 
comes to its fullest expression. It is touching to read in the 
charming book of Heinrich Seidel how Leberecht Huehnchen, 
in spite of his deep poverty, makes his home the dearest place 
on earth for his family. 

In traveling through Germany, you will ol^serve that the 
private houses do not present a large gable-end toward the 
street. Nor are the gardens in the front. The German home 
shuts itself off from the outside world. It is in the interior 
of the house and in the garden in- the rear, where the home- 
life makes itself known. 

The German home is a model of cleanliness and order. 
The neatness of the fields, forests and country at large, finds 
its explanation in the cleanliness of the homes. How could 
his home be gemuetlich otherwise? If, during the middle ages, 
a German had committed a mortal sin, one of the commonest 
punishments inflicted l)y the church, was to deprive him for 
one week of his daily bath. This is important, for external 
cleanliness exerts a good influence on the heart. We find it 
so in the German. Corresponding to his habits of cleanliness, 
we find a good moral atmosphere in German homes. History 
informs us that of all pagan trilK^s, the Germans were the cmly 
ones who did not practice poligamy. \\'hen the Germans wor- 
shipped Wotan, Donar, Nerthus, and Frija, monagamy was 
so strict a law that a wife who committed adultry, w^as shorn 



— 19 — 

of her hair, unclothes, and whipped through the streets of the 
village. 

The German home is a hearth of gladness. Germans are 
not afraid to rear large families of children, and they spare no 
means to educate them. Song and music is a part of the family 
life. Relatives and friends visit freely in the home, eine ge- 
muetliche Tasse KafTee is always served, and thus the sociable 
good nature of the German manifests itself in his home-life. 
Withal there is a spirit of simplicity, contentment, and cheer 
so that even the poor man in Germany finds true happiness 
in life. 

Beautiful is the respect and affection that German chil- 
dren show tlieir parents. There is no Christian nation on 
earth that has better bred children that the Germans. They 
obey, will nt)t talk back, and are polite to their elders. 

Heinrich Seiled, in his book, Leberecht Huehnchen, tells 
the story of a young man twentyseven years old who loved a 
girl five years his junior. The young man asks the father for 
the hand of the maiden, but is stoutly refused. They "agree 
to wait until the father will consent. Twentyfive years pass 
by, but the father remains obdurate. A friend suggests to 
celebrate the silver engagement. The sorry festival is really 
held. The friend proposes to the young people who are now 
respectively fortyseven and fortyth.ree years old to marry 
without the father's consent. 

"O, no," answers the lover."' if we marry without father's 
consent, there will l)e no blessing; we must wait." 

Would not our American youth have a happy wedding in 
spite of the "old man"? But that is what the Germans call 
"frommes Gemuet." 

To do justice to the good nature of the German, men- 
tion should be made of his wit and humor. Every nation 
has humor peculiar to itself. German humor differs from Eng- 
lish and American, in that it indulges little in smart sayings. 
The pun, so extensively used in America, is only sparingly in- 
dulged in by the German. He is not sprightly like the French- 
man, nor cpiick in his conclusions like the American. His 



— 20 — 

nature is to be naive, bland, grotesque, dry. The greatest 
German humorists are men of deep pathos. 

Where is there in all literature a humor more choice than 
that of Fritz Renter? Now you are bathing your face in tears 
of pathos, and now you are rolling in convulsions of laughter. 
Figures like the farmer Havermann, the amusing Fritz Trid- 
delfritz, the good "Frau Pastorin," and a dozen others, crown- 
ed by the inimita1)le "Entspekter," Unkel Braesig, are charm- 
ing humorous portraits, and alone sufficient to establish Ren- 
ter's place in the front ranks of German novelists. Being 
written in a dialect, translation is out of question; but it is 
to be regretted that these exquisitely written books cannot 
be given to the whole world. 

Other emminent humorous writers of this age, are WW- 
lielm Busch, the Mark Twain of (iermany, W'ilhelm Raabe, 
and Heinrich Seidel. 

The following story is of a German in the United States, 
illustrating naive humor. 

A certain German, OAvner of a small house, had affected an 
insurance on it of eight hundred dollars, although it had been 
built for much less. The house burnt down, and the companj^ 
refused to pay more than its actual value, about six hundred 
dollars. "If you wish," said the cashier of the insurance com- 
pany, "we will build you a house larger and better than the 
one burnt down, as we are positive that it can be done for even 
less than six hundred dollars." 

To this proposition the German objected, and at last was 
compelled to take the six hundred dollars. 

Some weeks after he had received the money, he was 
called u})on by the same agent who wanted him to take out 
a policy cjf life insurance on himself or his wife. 

"Nein, nein, you 'surance fellows be all tiefs. Ven I in- 
sure mine \ife, und mine vife ties, und I go to de office to get 
mine two tousant Thalers, do I get de money? O, nein! you 
will say to me, "Sie vas not vort two tausand Thalers, sie ^as 
vort bout six hundred. Ven you don't like die six hundert 
Thalers, \e vill give you a bigger and a better vife !" 

In no respect does the German character reveal itself 



— 21 — 

stronger than in religion. Even in the days of heathendom 
the German, like the American Indian, worshipped no idols ; 
and today, in the literary classes, where men have broken away 
from the positive Christian religion, you will find a form of 
religion, the so-called unconfessional religion, almost every 
man working out \iews peculiar to himself. The German 
cannot shut God out of his thoughts, howe\'er far he may have 
wandered away from the God of the Bible ; and it is a note- 
worthy fact of history that the first German production of 
German literaure is Ulfilas translation of the Bible into 
German, and that the greatest work of all German literature 
is Doctor Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. Goethe 
was once asked where he learned his masterful German, and 
he answered, in Luther's Bible. This Bible has gone over 
into the Aery marrow and sinews of the German people. 

The chief characteristic of German religiousness is piety. 
The German loves to speak of the "frommes Gemuet." The 
first words one of my German professors taught his children 
to say were. "Abba, dear Father". 

1x1 Germany most cliildren are baptized soon after their 
birth. This is done in the deej) consciousness that they 
belong in tlie Kingdom of G<»d. No Christian people are 
more faithful in the religious instruction of their children than 
the Germans. In early years they are taught the Bible in the 
form of a sttjry of the Bible, the catechism with al)out three 
hundred Bible verses, and the choicest hymns. 

Almost ever3d)ody goes to cliurch in (Germany, generally 
sj)eaking. (lerman soldiers are compelled to attend di\ine 
ser\ices. Besides the regular Sunday services, a special war 
service is held every Thursday, and the chuches are filled to 
their utmost. In many localities the churches are not large c- 
nough to contain all who wish to attend, in which places sev- 
eral services are held on the same day. No matter how great 
the distance, or how inclement the weather may be, the grown 
members of the family will go to church. If any one is liind- 
ered from going, the parting word is, Pray for me. 

This is especially true of Christmas. The (German Avould 
not think of lighting his tree or disturl)ing his prcs- 



90 



ents before having gone to church. And here it may said 
tliat the Christmas tree is not a survival of the Yulefest, it is 
a distinct Christian and German invention. Christmas trees 
Avere first trimmed in the early part of the seventeenth cent- 
nry, in Alsace, in the neighborhood of Strasburg. The can- 
dles were added a long time afterward by the Swedes. As- 
suredly the Christmas tree has heightened the joy of all chil- 
dren of Christendom, and by it the German reveals his vivid 
conception of the nativity-the night lit up with the glory of 
God. 

In the homes various traits of piety manifest themselves. 
In every German home you will find a Bible, a hymnal which 
is both sung and read, and in most homes, sermon and prayer- 
books. 

On the exterior of many houses in rural regions, Biblical 
verses, or Christian poetical inscriptions, are found ; while on 
the walls of the rooms. Christian wall cards are displayed. 

In some farming districts, the farmer, while he sows his 
seed, repeats some such sentence as, "With God," "May he 
bless it," "In His Name." In some localities, on the day, when 
the first fruits are gathered, the people go to church to dedi- 
cate the harvest to God. On the evening, on coming home 
from the field, the housewife, as she lights the candle, may be 
heard to say, "Light, dear Lord, after this life, the lamp of 
heavenly light for us." 

The public benevolent institutions in Germany are mann- 
ed largely by men and women who have been trained in 
Christian schools, while the number of deaconesses who nurse 
the sick, raise the fallen, and look after the poor, and neglected 
children, aggregates many thousands. 

Germans proudly claim that the aged, the sick and the 
disabled, are better cared for in Germany than elsewhere, and 
that nowhere do the workers enjoy better conditions of labor. 
From 1885 to 1911 over twenty millions was paid by the go\- 
ernment in pensions to these classes. 

Let me call your attention to another strong and leading 
trait in the German character-his indefatigable, industry. 
Whether the German be a peasant, or an artisan, or a scholar, 



— 23 — 

he is a hard-working man. Inactivity, says the German, is 
our greatest enemy. This is necessarily so. In his climate no 
ze})hyr winds fan him to sleep, no luscious fruits grow of their 
own accord, and the land is densely populated. The German 
must either work or die. But he naturally loves to work. How 
strongly this trait is stamped on the German character, may 
be seen from the fact that every male member of the royal 
family must learn a trade. The present Kaiser is by trade a 
glove-maker; his brother Henry, a watch-maker; to say 
nothing of the severe discipline under which the Hohenzollern 
are brought up. 

With the German's strong habits of industry, go hand 
in hand frugality, economy, and thrift. It was pathetic to read 
that the (ierman st)ldiers, who receive twelve cents a day, 
sent to their families twentyfour millions of dollars during the 
first six months of the war. 

To German industry the United States owes Aery largely 
its development. As tillers of the soil, German farmers rank 
unexcelled in the whole world. With industry they combine 
simple habits of life, and. therefore, thrive. You will find them 
in large numbers in every state of the Union. In Wisconsin 
there are counties in which, until recent years, little English 
was spoken. Nor is there a state in which they have not num- 
bered as pioneer.s. From their sons and daughters who have 
been Ijrought up under American influences and educated in 
American schools, all our large cities have drawn a heavy 
quota of staunch citizens, men and women who count for 
physical strength and firm character. Of the Germans. Thom- 
as Jefiferson said, in 1787: "Of all settlers, I prefer the Germ- 
ans. They are bound to make our best citizens." 

In a like proportion, the Germans have contributed to the 
manufacturing and commercial interests of the land. The 
first glass factories and iron foundries, were erected by Baron 
von Stiegel. The water works along the Manockisy, built by 
German Moravians, served as models for New York and Phil- 
adelphia. The first flat boat on the Ohio and Mississippi 
rixers to New Orleans, was made by a German. Two Germans 
were the first white men to cross the Alleghenies ; on a stately 



— 24 — 

oak of Old Barren, can this day l)e seen the names of five 
Germans who were associates of Boone. The Germans were 
the first white men to plant potatoes in Pennsylvania and Ken- 
tucky, and it must 1:»e admitted, they built the first brewery in 
the United States ! 

In colonial days the richest merchant was Jacob Astor, 
the father of "( )'" "K", meaning, all good, which he pronounc- 
ed "oil kut." 

It is also a fact of history that (jerman schools of the 
colonies, were recognized to be the best, in fact, they were 
looked upon as models. Representative Prosser says, "The 
only four regiments in the last (civil) war, in which every 
man could write his name ,were German regiments. 

History also informs us that some of our foremost aboli- 
tionsists were Germans. Pastorious, the man of universal 
knowledge, the leader of German mass immigration, moved 
the citizens of Pennsylvania to present the cjuestion of negro 
emanicipation to the State Legislature. The German Mora\'- 
ians joined in the fight. Wherever the Germans set their 
foot on southern soil, the first thing they did was to liberate 
their slaves. Never, in the history of the (jerman people, was 
there such a thing as keeping slaves known. They were the 
first to erect schools for the negro. Note, how the Germans in 
this respect helped form the American character. 

If, on account of these and other \'irtues, we have learn- 
ed to respect and love the Germans, our love becomes pathetic 
when we consider his loyalty to the Stars and Stripes. Ne\'er 
was there a battle fought in behalf of American liberty but 
what, when the roll was afterward called, there were German 
names, often many, to which no response came. In the 
French-English war, the German settlements formed the out- 
posts against the enemy. German regiments repelled the first 
assaults of the iMiglish Tories and Red-skins. Under the 
leadershi]) of the (ierman General Herkimer,* peace was pur- 
cliased at the battle of ( )riskany. He was also the first to un- 
fold the Stars and Stri})es on an American battlefield. The 
order had come from Washington that the Stars and Stripes 

'■ His name was Herkheimer 



— 25 — 

should form the American flag. But the battle was on, and in 
all haste, General Herkimer improvised a flag by using tht 
red shirt of a soldier, the blue blouse of another, and the white 
petticoat of a woman. 

This tale of German bravery was told over in the Wyom- 
ing \'alley, along the Savannah and Congerre, in Pennsyl 
vania, the Virginias and Carolinas. The names of Meister. 
Mueller, Schmeisser, Dritt, Fabiger, Kalteisen, Hueger, and 
the excellent Muehlenberg, have gone into colonial history, 
while the names of Steuben und DeKalb, have been immort- 
alized by the towns and countries named after them. 

Tn the war of the rebellion, the names of so many German 
Generals as Sigel. Kiefer. Steinwehr, Kautz, Osterhaus, Wil- 
lig, Schimmelpfennig, Weitzel, and Salomon, give us an idea 
how large the number of German privates must have been, 
and the fact that of one regiment of three hundred and fifty 
men, only fifty survived, proves the valor with which these 
men fought. 

Of a German Presbyterian minister it is said that when 
his company began to flee before the enemy, he. in the hail 
of lead, rallied his men to renewed action, and won the day. 
Our brother has answered the last roll-call, but the memory 
of John Berk abides. 

Tn his book. On The Trail Of The Immigrant, Professor 
Steiner says — "TheGerman in America has not produced many 
great men, but he has filled the country with good men, which 
is infinitely better. The cause of the dearth of prominent 
Germans is due to the fact that "(with the exception of the 
Scandinavians)" they blend more quickly than any other for- 
eigners with the nation's life, especially if the German reaches 
any degree of emminence ; and the elYect which he has had 
upon the nation, is diflicult to trace just because of that." 

We, in whose veins flows German blood, whether we were 
born in Germany, or. like myself, are the American ofifspring 
of German parents, may well be proud of the people from 
whom we descend. From the days of Charlemagne down 
through the reformation to the present day. the German people 
have stood for the highest culture the world possessess ; and 



— 26 — 

whatever the outcome of this terrible struggle may be, like 
the bird Phoenix rising from his ashes, the Germans will a- 
gain rise and continue to contribute to the world the good 
things that have made their name famous . 

"The German-Americans need not apologize for the 
"hyphen." They have good reason to be proud of it. They take 
in full measure all the word "American citizen implies. Look- 
about you ! German mind, German brain, German muscle, 
German industry, German efficiency everywhere. In business 
they are models of honor, industry and success ; in farm life, 
their homes become the charm of the countryside ; as law- 
abiding citizens, they are unsurpassed by and race of people." 

That the (ierman-x\mericans are pro-German, needs no 
explanation. The man with German blood in his veins, would 
be a traitor to himself, a most unnatural man, if he should feel 
no sympathy with the German people in their terrible struggle. 
It is an instinct of human nature to respect one's own blood. 
The German, the Frenchman who will deny the nation whose 
blood flows in his veins, is an unnatural man, for whom his 
fellows can feel only the deepest contempt. The fact is, the 
feelings ha\-e been so tense on l:)oth sides that passion has run 
as high on one side as on the other, as President Wilson said 
in one of his Kansas speeches. — 

"Some men of foreign birth have tried to stir up trouble 
in America, but. Gentlemen, some men of American birth have 
tried to stir up trouble, too. If you were to listen to the coun- 
cils that are dinned into my ears in the executive office at 
Washington, you would find some of the most intemperate- 
of them came from the lips of men who had for generations 
been indentified with America, but who for the time being are 
so carried away by the sweep of their sympathies that they 
have ceased to think in the terms of American traditions and 
American policy." 

As citizens of the United' States, the German-Americans 
are loyal to the heart. It is America first. No citizen of 
German extraction has called the constitution of this country 
in question, the question has not at all been one of political or 
national principles, but rather of natural .sympathy, and of the 

Lot 99 



policy of this government to supply the allied nations with 
munitions of war. To them as well as to the millions of others 
who are not of foreign descent, this seems a moral wrong, and 
what is morally wrong can never be legally right. But that 
has nothing to do with the loyality of the German-Americans, 
for that loyality is true. 

As a (ierman-American, I have no apology to offer for 
saying that my father, who was born in (iermany, fought four 
years in the civil war. He helped fight the fearful battle of 
Gettysburg until every round of his ammunition was shot 
away. There is absolutely nothing in the life of my father 
that I am so proud of as of his willingness to lay down his 
life for the liberty of the black man, and thus preserve the 
ideals of this country. 

But, notwithstanding, what has been said, nothing has 
happened in the history of the United States to annise a ( Ger- 
man consciousness in the German-Americans as this war has. 
Already there has begun a renaissance of the German language 
and literature. In German hc^mes where the German language 
was on the wane, it is again being spoken and studied. German 
papers that could hardly keep their heads above the water be- 
fore the war l^roke out, now thrive and some of the weeklies 
have been changed into dailies. 

After the Franco-( ierman war, there was a re^•ival of the 
German in the United States, and after this war is over and 
feelings are subdued, there will be a return to the study of 
the German language, literature, art, and all that stands for 
German culture. For fearful as has been the calamity for 
Germany in the loss of life and limb, only by this war could 
the world come to a knowdedge of the herculean powers that 
lie vv'ithin her, and her genius will be recognized and studied 
as never before. If "peace hath her victories as renowned as 
those of war," let us not forget that modern ( ierman culture 
is the product of a long peaceful conc[uest, she having had no 
war in fortythree years, during which time she rose to her 
eminence. All the nations of the earth have been made the 
beneficiaries of (ierman culture, and that is exactly wdiat 
(iermany desires. But as all fair-minded men will give due 



— 28 — 

credit to England, France the United States, or any other 
country, for its achie\ements, so also should German culture 
be recognized and appreciated. Such an appreciation will go 
a long way toward bringing about a better understanding of 
the German people, their character, and world-position. Germ- 
any as a member of the Christian family of nations, has "made 
good," and the chief end of her culture is to contribute the 
greatest possible amount of good to all mankind. 

"Macht und Freiheit, Recht und Sitte. 
Klarer Geist und starker Hieb, 
Zuegehi dann aus starker Mitte 
Jeder Selbstsucht wildcn Trieb. 
Und es mag an deutschem Wesen 
Noch einmal die Welt genesen." 



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